Guess the image....

Guess the photo by placing your thoughts in the comments. I'll post the answer there in a day or so.

The above image is....

1.) An abstract photo featured on the excellent blog i heart photograph
2.) A newly-discovered strain of colorful sea anemones
3.) Brain cells of a lab mouse glowing with fluorescent proteins
4.) An image from David Maisel's newest series
5.) A behind-the-scenes look at the newest candy in development at Nestle's Willy Wonka Candy Company

UPDATE (10/11): Look in the comments for the answer!!

Cute Overload

No, it's not because I am newly engaged that I share the following...

Maybe it is because I am very excited to be going to the Topsfield Fair today and seeing all sorts of judging and shows of bunnies, chickens, calves, flowers, art, and vegetables. If you have never been and live in New England, this amazing agriculture fair (established in 1818) is a must. I will give you an update later -- especially on the flower arranging section. These folks are brutally honest in their comments on composition.

Cakewrecks pointed me to the blog Cute Overload and there are some pretty excellent and funny pics over there. Enjoy!

Fun Friday post - cakes not photos

It's been a rough summer and early fall. A friend sent me this blog, Cake Wrecks (subtitled "when cakes go horrible, hilariously wrong"), and it makes me smile. For example, the original order for the above cake was for a "black high heel." Enjoy the blog and the rest of this post about a cake version of the telephone game here.

Top Artist: ART meets reality t.v....really?

Wow, I am...speechless.

Sarah Jessica Parker has pitched a new idea for an art reality show to Bravo. You can see below for the whole astounding story. Despite coming from the woman who played SanDeE from one of my favorite Steve Martin art-themed movies L.A. Story, I am not sure how this will fly (although I will likely tune in just to witness it). Nevertheless, I don't think it can hold a candle to our locally-minted art game show, Art Show Down.

Be sure to check out some of Art Show Down's past episodes! They are beautifully designed and wonderfully hysterical. Highlights include Episode 1, with games such as "Auction Price is Right" and "Schmooze and Booze." In the latter, a contestant has to eat as much cheese and drink as much * correction * Tabasco-flavored seltzer as possible while simultaneously talking up and name dropping with a curator (pictured & linked above). Don't miss it!

From REUTERS: LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter):

Sarah Jessica Parker's art-competition reality show has found a home at Bravo.

The network has picked up "American Artist," a "Project Runway"-style series that takes on the art world.

Aspiring artists compete to produce various styles of artwork (painting, sculpting, etc.), which is then judged by a panel of experts. Parker's Pretty Matches production company is helping develop the project.

If ordered to series, the show would give Bravo another skill-driven reality show to its lineup, along with "Top Chef" and "Top Design."

- Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:28am EDT

Instant Art Critic

From Pixmaven, via Modern Art Journal....Voila! The Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator.

First, read the instructions below, then browse some of my results at the bottom, and then click the link HERE to test it out yourself.

Salvation is here!
Feeling inarticulate? Critically gauche? Or just verbally impotent?

We here at Pixmaven have developed The Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator so you need never again feel at a loss for pithy commentary or savvy "insights." With this device you can speak about Art with both authority and confidence. Use this marvellous tool to amaze and confound friends and colleagues. Don't miss this opportunity to menace and dumbfound professors and artists emeriti!

The instructions are simple-- type any five digit number in the field below, click 'Create,' and enjoy your ready-made Critical Response to the Art Product (or CRAP). Now you can produce CRAP critiques as easily and fluently as anyone in your MFA program!

Please use this product responsibly.

Here are some of my results:

With regard to the issue of content, the disjunctive perturbation of the spatial relationships brings within the realm of discourse the distinctive formal juxtapositions.

Although I am not a painter, I think that the internal dynamic of the negative space endangers the devious simplicity of the inherent overspecificity.

The Onion's brilliant take on Sunday Magazine covers

Need I say more? I picked several magazine covers that dealt with photography or tickled my fancy. You can see more examples (and laugh out loud as I did) right here. Enjoy!

From TheONION.com

Photoshop Phunniness from The Onion

Well, I might not add the others, but I would add the Fonz.

Found on The Onion, "Statshot," August 8, 2007 | Issue 43•32

Wall Text for the Home

As demonstrated by my earlier post on wall text, I love to geek out on museum and curatorial type humor. I suspect that not too many people find these things funny, but I do know that it make me a huge dork. I recently pulled Steve Martin's book Pure Drivel off my bookshelf, which has several hysterical art related essays, and of course I also own the Museum of Bad Art's original collection handbook, now out of print. Is there something about springtime that makes one seek out humorous material (and blog about it)?

I recently stumbled across the below on McSweeney's, a site that I should visit more often, and found this witty take on wall text. Enjoy!

WALL TEXT FROM MY HOME. BY GRAHAM T. BECK
Read more wall text here.
- - - -
Brown Couch, 1999
UPHOLSTERY, WOOD, POLYESTER FILL, ASSORTED STAINS.
PERMANENT COLLECTION.

Undoubtedly one of Beck's best-known works, Brown Couch, 1999 was first shown at the Salvation Army in Poughkeepsie, New York, and has since been a centerpiece in all but one of his full-scale exhibitions.

Its distinctive form, created by the absence of one armrest, draws viewers in and allows sitters to choose between a chaise-longue position and a more conventional posture. Although it has received critical acclaim from all his tall friends, and is where Jack and Kate first made out, recent revisionist critiques by his girlfriend have focused on its threadbare cushions, which are stained on both sides.

------------------------------------------------------------

Jade Plant, 2006

JADE PLANT, SOIL, TERRA-COTTA POT.
SEMI-PERMANENT COLLECTION.

Jade Plant, 2006 is the last surviving part of the Window Sill exhibition of the same year. Started as a way to showcase responsibility and give off an earthy, environmental vibe to his not yet live-in girlfriend, the vegetation-based display failed when he went away to New Mexico for three weeks and didn't ask anyone to water the plants.

Despite long periods of continued neglect, Jade Plant, 2006 has remained alive and mostly green. It frequently elicits the question
"Is that thing dead?"

Art Grab Bag from "Indexed"

All found (and laughed at) on indexed.blogspot.com